Loom shuttle



Patented Jan. f1 1935i Y i LooM SHUTTLE Wallace-,I..Stimpson, HopedaleyMass., assignor` i to; Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass., a corporationof Mame- A The present inventionrelates to loom shuttles of the automatically'tlireading type, for use in bobbin-changing'looms. Y, 4,

This lapplication is acontinuation in part o f my co-pending application, Serial No. 675,974,l

led June 15, `1933 Y Y Shuttles of the type mentioned are designed to have the bobbin or other filling carrier therein exchanged automatically when the-.supply of iilling4 becomes substantially exhausted, andare likewise equippedwi'tha threading'block which partially threads up during the `first piekafter transfer, ofthe newiilling supply,y andr completely threads upfduring the next pick. The

threading'blo'ck lis commonly provided `(Witli a thread guard such as `a horn beneath'which the filling iis engagedwhen partially threadedthe horn being intended toyholdftheiilling inplace at the end of the rst pck'afte'r transfer Aand at the beginning of the next pick.,v During this inter,-r val, 'the lling extendingfrom theQshuttlej-tothe cloth selvage is slackened, and, in prior'constructions, frequently becomes unthreadedA from the block instead of.`threading down into the side eye as'it should." l y f n v AI have foundthat the unthreading hof the iilling from its partially threaded positionbeneath the horn occurs in two ways. First, the slackened filling, at` the .end of the'iirstpick after transfer, maysway lor be moved rearwardly to or beyond the end of the horn, lso that at the beginning of the nexty pick'it can rise up out of the threading block` quite readily; a Second, the slackiilling kmay'kinlroir-,twist into loops whichmay loop about theend of., the horn and thus unthread ,when the `shuttle is again n ofa shuttle body rlfhaving a1 longitudinallyiexj-j.:

tending'y cavity 2;,forthe reception-ofl Ia rillingcarrier. such as bobbin' 3, the 'latter beingreleasi picked.

It has been proposed to'overcome the diiliculties above mentioned, by theaddition ofakfurther guards, hooks or vother. devices intended tocon` trol the lling'and prevent its escape from beneath the horn. l However, each such device added yto ,the` shuttle usually does little but add j forwardly in thejthreading block, inconiunction with an improved horn ythat projects a "considerable distancerearwardly of the holding means,

also greatly lessens. the possibility. of-loops catchf ing 'on the horny. My invention` provides means in the 4form-of a trap which prevents-allfof the loopsg-or kinks Afrom reachingthe rearwardend of the horn. .This latter means may be incor-j. poratedfin the shuttle if the filling to be `used therewithso requires. Y Q ,l 1 I Y .Ihefiirst embodiment of my invention, as `illustrate'd on the accompanying drawings, in,"

cludes both of, the novell features above defined- The other vembodimentiomitstheiabove meng tioned trap means, this Yembodiment lbeing less desirable thanthe lirst` except for use withl filling. which does notwtend; tol kink or loon` excessively.v i i A .v-Referring to'sa'id drawingszfr 'Fgnl is la fragmentary'plan.viewoi the lthread delivery end bf a shuttle Y constituting the afore-v l said rst embodiment,ofmy-'invention ,-.ygl

Fig. 2` is a` perspective view of the shuttle ofv eig; 17;.. i

Fig.V 3111s afi-ont elevation ofr the threading` blockdetachedirom 4the shuttle, this threading blockV being'coinmonfto bothfsaaid embodiments ,f 25

of vmy',inventin,

z Figli is a view'in eross-saction,takenapproxif Fig., 7. is .a view cross-section,y taken" ap.

proxirnately fon line -7- 7, Figg; and i ""FigrlS Vis a longitudinal sectional vi approximately animee-amg. 1,.l Y Y The shuttle. of Figs. 1, 2, Land 8is comprised ably heldv byi any conventional means A(not e y,taken` shown) which permits the illing, carrier to automatically replaced v.by a freshone when-,the 1= supply of iilling f thereon'tbecomes substantiallyV exhausted. The shuttle is of the automatically threadingtype, provided witli-a threading block.

The shuttle bodyfisrecessedgas at 5 to receive j the threading block 4.

ing upwardly on opposite sides of `a. longitudinallyV extending thread passagerwhich is 4inaxialalign- This block includes .a floor 6 and front and rearwalls 7vand8 project- 1 ment with the bobbin 3. yA bridge 1K9 extends across the thread passage at 4the outer jend-y of.`

the walls, and' the ailing is manned n; niethread-I passage by, a' Conventional [Qfxm Lff. lt'hredine' 'f scroll '10."'

The threading block is provided with a horn 11 which projects from the front wall 7 outwardly and rearwardly substantially entirely across the thread passage. It will be noted particularly that the rearward free end of the horn is very nearly in alignment with the rear wall 8, which is materially rearwardly of the axis of the bobbin. This is a departure from usual practice which is of importance for reasons hereinafter, explained.

The free endof the horn 11 turns downwardly as at 12 and enters a channel 13. This channel is preferably, though not necessarily, formed in the wood of the shuttle body, and it extends longitudinally of the shuttle outwardly from the recess 5. v

It may be well to note here that in these specifications and the appended claims I employ such terms as outwardly, rearwardly and front as though the shuttle were positioned"` in a loom.`

Thus, the side containing the side delivery eye is the front sideof the shuttle and on Figrrl of the drawings rearwardly 'is away from the front wall toward the top of the sheet. By outwardly I mean in a direction longitudinally of the shuttle fromthe bobbin Achamber toward the tip of the shuttle.

The threading block 4 is further modified from usual practice in that a depending lug 14 projects downwardly into the thread passage above mentioned. -This lug may be formed integrally with the down turned end 12 of the horn, and has an approximately vertical front surface 15 for a purpose presently to be described. It is here noted that while the surface 15 or its functional equivalent is an important element of my invention in some of its aspects, other features of the invention may be enjoyed even though the lug be omittedV entirely.

When a fresh bobbin is first transferred` to the shuttle the filling end extends from the bobbin outwardly and upwardly to the conventional fixed end holderr (not shown) as represented in Fig. 2: 1Then, as the'shu'ttle is pickedthe filling unwinds1 Afrom the bobbinv and'i'ri'so unwinding swirls or balloons in a definite, determinable path. The naturalpath fol ballooning of the filling is approximately circular in cross-section. The dotted lines j and-f2, Fig. 1, Vrepresent the forward and rearward limits of the ballooning.

It will be noted*v from Fig.` 1 that the horn I1 extends rearwardlyy approximately tothe reari ward limitrofballooningl of the filling, while the front surface 15 of the lug-14 is nearly at the forward- 'limit of such-ballooning- An unobstructed space is prov-idedabout they free end of the horn llfand aboutthellug -14'so that the filling can balloon, in the path P, Fig. 3, downwardly about the horn, forwardly beneath the lug and upWardlyin-front of the surface 15. The filling is zthen partially threaded, by which I mean that it extends from the bobbin through the thread passage, beneath the horn and on outwardly towhatever holding means is providedI on the loom. f

The filling remains in the partially threaded position throughout the remainder of the first pick. When the shuttle is boxed'at the end of this pick the lay (not shown) moves forwardly and the filling becomes slackened. This slack filling has atendency to kink and twist and, in prior art constructions, vmay become unthreaded fromthe horn.A As above noted, such'unthreading-may occur through the filling moving rearwardly so that itcan lift out' rearwardly of the,

horn or may occur by reason of loops of filling throwing onto and about the horn.

The first of these causes of unthreading is effectivelyeliminated in both saidembodments of my invention. In the embodiment of Fig. 1 the front surface of lug 14 holds the lling forwardly so long as the latter is engaged by the front surface 15. In order to prevent the slack filling 'from sagging out of control ofthe lug I have so constructed the shuttle body, outwardly of the horn, as to support the partially threaded filling well up from the bottom of the lug. The supporting point is designated 16 on the drawings and is best illustrated by Fig. 8.

The embodiment of Fig. 1 also includes means for positively controlling the loops of filling and prevent them from engaging about the horn. To this end, there is provided a space forwardly of the free end of the horn, in which space the filling runs while partially threaded, and a thread trap is positioned between such space and the free end of the horn. The space may be provided by means of a slot 16 which is conveniently lformed directly in the shuttle body. This slot extends outwardly'frorn the horn 11 substantially parallel vto the channel 13, and is in alignment with the thread passage in the threading block, communicating directly with the recess 5.

The rear wall 17 of the slot, which wall is preferably approximately vertical, constitutes one form of thread trap, and is particularly efficient in this respect when aligned with the surface 15. As is clearly shown, the base of the wall is below the level of the down turned end 12 of the horn; and the wall, which is xed,is of vsuiiicient height to project materially above said down turned end. The top of the wall, at its inner end, curves downwardly to, project beneath the horn.

Since thethread trapping wallv is well forward of the free end ofthe horn the wall engages any loops of fillingA and effectively holds them forwardly so that theyv cannot engage about the horn. Furthermore, it will be noted that I have accomplished this desirable result without adding any projections which would tend to catch or snarl the filling.

It will be understood that after the shuttle is well started on the second pick aftertransfer the filling will slide down the passage 18 into the side delivery eye 19 in the usual manner.

Referring to Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the shuttle body 21 is provided witha cavity 22 to receive a bobbiny 23 and is recessed at 25 to receive the same threading block 4 above described. The present embodiment omits the channel, slot and thread trapping wall above described and substitutes therefor one relatively wide groove 26 which extends from the recess 25 outwardly. The bottom of the groove 26 inclines upwardly and outwardly to provide a support 27 for the partially threaded filling as shown most clearly in Fig. 6. The groove is so formed as to provide an unobstructed path for the swirling filling about' the horn 11 and lug 14, as in the first embodiment.

TheV operation of the construction ofv Figs. 5-7 is identical with `that above described, except that the absence of a thread trapping wall may allow extremely large loops to engage about the horn 11. Howeventhefront surface of the lug 14 holds the filling forwardly from the free end ofthe horn a sufficient distance that small loops cannot reach the freeend of the horn. Consequently this embodiment is satisfactory for use with many characters of filling, Whichhave no tendency to formlarge loops when slackened.

CFI

carrier` in a cavityztherein, a 'threadingbloclr having. a longitudinally extending thread passage in alignmentrwith said cavity, said threading `block being provided with a horn which'projects krearwardly across rsaid thread passage to a point materially rearwardly of the axis of said filling. carrier, and a lug projecting downwardly intovsaid thread passage from the under surface ofsaid horn andhaving its front surface positioned materially forwardly of the axis of Asaid filling carrier, 'there being an yunobstructed VspaceV around saidhorn-and lug to allow the'y swirling Y lling during the first pick after transfer to pass freely, downwardly about saidhorn, forwardly beneathsaid lug and upwardly in front of said front surface, said shuttle outwardly of -said horn being constructed to supportlthe partially threaded filling and prevent it from sagging below said lug. ,A

2. In yan automatically threading shuttle for bobbin changing looms, a shuttle body, athreading block in said shuttle body, said threading block having an open thread passage extending longitudinally therethrough kand a horn projecting rearwardly over the said thread passage approximately to the rearward limit of the ballooning of the 'completely' unthreaded filling, a lug projecting downwardly from the under surface of'said horn into the thread passage, the front surface of said lug being positioned materially forwardly of the natural center of balloon- `ing of the completely-unthreaded filling, there being an unobstructed path about the rearward end of said horn and beneath said lug to allow the filling in ballooning as aforesaid to freely pass to its partially threaded position in front of said front surface, and means for' preventing the partially threaded filling from escaping downwardly and rearwardly about said lug.

3. In an automatically `threading shuttle for bobbin changing looms, a shuttle body, a threading block in said shuttle body,` said threading block having an open thread passage extending longitudinally therethrough and a horn projecting rearwardly over the said thread passage, to a point materially beyond the center of the natural ballooning of the completely unthreaded filling, a threadk deiiecting and guiding surface beneath said horn and materially forwardly of said center of ballooning, there being an unobstructed path about and beneath4 said hornand surface through which the filling may freely pass to its partially threaded position in front of said surface, and means for preventing the thus partially threaded filling from escaping from said surface in a direction to again become completely unthreaded.

4. An automatically threading loom shuttle comprising a shuttle body containing a filling carrier in a cavity therein, a threading block having a longitudinally extending thread passage communicating with said cavity, said threading block being provided 4witha horn pro- Y jecting outwardly and .rearwardly across 'said thread passagek and terminating in a channel communicating with the thread passage, .there`r beingl aslot formed' in continuation of said Y' fthread passage and extending outwardly beyond saidhorn' in vposition to receive the running li-lllingduringthe first pick after transfer, the said slot being separated from the said channel by `a wall which serves to prevent the filling from kinking out of the slot intov the channel.

5. An automatically threading loom shuttle. comprising a shuttle body containing'a filling' carrier lin a cavity' therein, a threadin'gblock having a longitudinally extending threadf'pas-v sage communicating with vsaid cavity, said threading block being providedV with a thread guardV projecting youtwardly and rearwardly from the front wall thereof, the `free end of vsaid thread guard turningdownwardly into a longiwhich channel tudinally extendingk channel, communicates directly with said thread passage,

there beinga slot formed in continuation ofsaid thread passage forwardly .of said channel and rextending outwardly beyond said thread Vguard in position to receive the running filling when l the shuttle is partially threaded, the rear wall of said slot being positioned entirely forwardly of and below the'free endof the thread guard guard.

.and serving to preventthe filling from kinking *y rearwardly about the free end of the said thread.

6. An automatically threading loom shuttle,`

comprising a V'shuttle body containingl a lling carrier ina cavity therein, a threading block having a longitudinally extending thread passage in alignment with said cavity, said threading block being provided with an outwardly and rearwardly projecting horn the free end of which turns downwardly into a channel provided therefor, there being a space forwardly of said channel andr beneath said horn through which space the running lli'ng extends during' the first pick after transfer and a thread trapv bef tween the said space and the said channel, said 1,

thread trap being comprised ofi a xed wall posi- `tioned entirely forwardlyrof said channel and extending generally longitudinally of the shuttle,

said wall being of a height to project materially above said down-turned end of said horn wheref by to prevent the filling from kinking rearwardly about said horn.

7. An automatically threading loom shuttle comprising a shuttle body containing av filling Y carrier in 'facavity therein', a threading block having a longitudinally extendingv thread Apassage communicating ,with said cavity,' said' threading block being provided with a thread guardA which projects rearwardly across said thread passage and the free end of which turns downwardly into a channel provided therefor in the shuttle body,'there being a space forwardly of said channel and beneath said thread guard through'lwhich space the running filling extends during theiirst pick after transfer, and

a thread trap constituted by a wall extending longitudinallyfof ltheshuttle between the said space and the said channel, said wall being eny .K

tirely forwardly of said down-turned endof said thread guard and projecting materially abovethe same.

8. An automatically threadingloom shuttley sage communicating with said cavity, said threading block being provided with a horn which projects outwardlyand rearwardly across said threadpassage and the free end of which turns downwardly into aV channelv provided therefor in the shuttle body, there being a space forwardly of said channel through which space the running filling extends beneath said horn and outwardly longitudinally of the shuttle, a wall vformed in said shuttle body between saidrspace and said channel and extending outwardly from adjacent the said horn, and a lug projecting downwardly from the under surface of said horn and having its front surface substantially in alignment with the said wall.

9. An automatically threading loom shuttle comprising a shuttle body containing a filling carrier in a cavityv therein, a threading block having a longitudinally extending thread passage communicating with said cavity, said threading block being provided with a horn which projects outwardly and rearwardly across said thread passage and the free end of which turns downwardly into a channel provided therefor in the shuttle body, there being a slot formed in the shuttle body forwardly of the said channel which slotA is inalignment with and communicates directly with said thread passage and extends outwardly from said horn,.and a lug projecting downwardly from the under surface of said horn and having its front surface substantially in alignment with the rear wall of said slot.

10. Asan article of manufacture, a shuttle blank having therein a longitudinally extending cavity for the reception of a filling carrier, said shuttle blank being recessed in theA usual manner to receive and hold a, threading block in alignment with said cavity, said shuttle blank being provided with a thread-guard-receiving channel formed in the outer end thereof in alignment with said cavity, there being a thread guiding slot forwardly of and substantially parallel to said channel, said slot being in alignment with said cavity and said recess and communicating directly with the latter.

'11. As. an article of manufacture, a shuttle blank having therein a longitudinally extending cavity for the reception of a filling carrier, said. shuttle blank being recessed in the usual manner to receive and hold a threading block in alignment with' said cavity, said shuttle blank being provided with a thread-guard-receiving channel formedy in the outer end thereof in alignment with said cavity, there being a thread guiding slot formed in the said shuttle body and extending outwardly from the said recess substantially parallel to the said channel, the slot and channel being separated by a wall which extends outwardly from the outer end of said recess and serves as a thread trap for preventing the running filling from kinking rearwardly out of the said slot.

- VWALLACE'I. STIMPSON. 

